Blade Runner - Cheap Thoughts

You know, the idea behind Cheap Thoughts was to review products that I had things to talk about but didn't have to go into full detail like a proper review. I just want that to be kept in mind because Blade Runner is one of those films that people will do 40 minute analysis videos on talking about everything great with it, i don't really feel the need to talk about everything in the film, so let's talk about what does interest me.

The first one and without a doubt the best thing about this film are the visuals, this is one of the best looking movies that I have ever seen. The cinematography, the lighting, the set design, for nothing else you'll remember the imagery of the movie because good god, it's beautiful. This is one of the best realised worlds created in a sci-fi film, which is hard to do, a lot of films set in the future often blend in together, this film has such a distinct look that it'd be hard to recreate. It's futuristic but grounded, cultures have combined but the issues are timeless and even though all of the sets look...well, like sets, that just helps to feed the futuristic setting, as if this is a story that no matter what year you watch it, even 100 years from now it's always going to feel like it's slightly ahead of the curb. The blending of cultures is also very clever because everything in the film is a blend of other things, it's science-fiction but it's also a noir thriller, it's dark but it's also optimistic, it's charming but also cold, it's a traditionally American story but with Asian style and filmmaking, specifically Korean or Japanese. Even though the majority of the film is by an American crew, it doesn't feel like it. Yes there is a strong presence of Asian culture in the diegesis of the movie, but it also feels like it's there behind the camera as well. Something about this movie almost feels like an anime, the use of wide shots of the city, the portrayal of the future, the minimal dialogue and heavy emphasis on thematic storytelling than literal storytelling. Maybe it's because I watched Akira literally 2 weeks before seeing this film but the two felt like they shared a lot of similarities. If you were to replace Ridley Scott's name with someone like Bong Joon-Ho or Park Chan-Wook then i'd believe it would fit their styles.

However, something that the film touches upon, well, more so rubs in your face is the theme of humanity and artificial intelligence. What does it mean to be human? Can you create true intelligence? Can a robot possess individualism? Do they deserve equal rights? Now i'm not gonna bash the film because it handles these questions really well, my problem? I've seen it done a billion times before. I know it was more original when the film came out and it handles the topics better than most, but it looks almost impossible for people to talk about these things in an original way. Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell, A.I, Battlestar Galactica, Ex-Machina and a ton of others have all talked about these themes and I swear each one has the same conversations, the same conclusions, the same opinions, the same plot points, really I don't care if this film had these conversations first, i've seen it a million times before so subjectively speaking, I don't give a crap.

Then there's the climax of the movie, Roy Battey's speech about all of his memories, the famous "tears in the rain" quote and all that stuff. Again, my problem with this is very subjective. It's a very good speech, very well written and delivered and if i hadn't been shown this scene 100 times before seeing the actual movie it might have had an effect on me. But more than that Doctor Who had a very similar speech and i think there's was more epic. Again, incredibly subjective, but hey, that's my experience and the entire point of this series is to talk about my thoughts on products.

Overall the actual substance of Blade Runner doesn't really do much for me, but aesthetically speaking, the film is magnificent, beautiful visuals, great score, really good acting and above all else, memorable and i'm very interested in seeing how my opinion will change on a second viewing. 8/10 with a possible 9/10 depending on my next watch.

-Danny